Hot water for most commercial applications that require large quantities of hot water, for example restaurants for washing dishes or other needs, is commonly supplied by standard commercial tank type water heaters. These types of heaters are oftentimes installed in limited access areas such as basements or mezzanines where the floor space for the hot water tanks is quite limited. A major drawback to these types of water heaters, besides their relatively high cost, is that when the tank fails, the entire water heater has to be replaced. Consequently no hot water is available during the time it takes to replace the water heater.
Commercial tankless water heating systems are available that may include multi-unit heaters that allow for service or replacement of one or more of the heaters without disrupting the entire hot water supply. However, these systems typically require a substantial amount of wall space to install them, which is oftentimes not available. Heretofore, there has been no known way to conveniently install tankless water heating systems in the same or comparable amount of space typically occupied by standard tank type water heaters in a relatively quick and inexpensive manner.